


The Untempered Schism

by Dude



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Untempered Schism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-27
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-09 16:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dude/pseuds/Dude
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically what happened at an eight-year-old Time Lord's (the Doctor's, probably) visit to the Untempered Schism.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Untempered Schism

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of what I write is stupidly dramatic sounding, sorry.

They come for you in the dead of night.  The minute you turn eight, you’re in constant fear of being taken away.  They’ll take you on what seems like an hours long trip throughout the night.  You’ll try not to panic, but you will.  Everyone else does, and how could they not?  All those stories you hear of people going mad and breaking down.  But a part of you is relieved it’s finally here.  If you survive then you become part of a legacy and race that spans all time.  You’re someone others come to for help and guidance.  If you can’t handle it, you run away.  And you don’t stop running.  Or you get taken to an asylum to stay with others also haunted by what they saw.

They came for him on his birthday.  He had just gotten home from the surprise party at his grandparents’ house.  There had been ice-cream cake and balloons.  They played his favorite games and chased after chickens in the backyard.  He smiled, remembering, as he got dressed for bed.  He had forgotten yesterday’s worries about _them_.  He fell asleep, content, the moment his head hit the pillow.  

He had only just begun to dream when they same.  They shook him awake and took him outside.  He passed his parents in the hallway and they smiled reassuringly as he was hurried out the door.  They put him in an empty car and left.  The driver never said a word and he was forced to endure the trip in silence.  He’d only gotten a few hours of sleep, but he wasn’t tired at all.  The adrenaline, anxiety, and fear kept him wide awake.

When they arrived at their destination, the driver opened the door to let him out and then drove off without so much as a glance towards him.  When he could no longer see the car in the distance, he turned and took in his surroundings.  It wasn’t much; Just a few rocks scattered across an otherwise barren landscape.  Only one of the usual two moons shone that night.  He had no idea where he was and nearly fell into a panic before he spotted two figures in the distance.  They beckoned to him, and, not knowing what else to do, he walked shakily towards them.  As he got closer he noticed they were both wearing the ceremonial council member robes and let out a huge breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.  He didn’t have anything to fear.  Council members were, for the most part, kind and they watched out for the citizens of Gallifrey.  After all, it was their job to do what they knew was best for the universes.  But why had they brought him here to this terrible, desolate place?  Why had they snatched him from his bed and so many kids terrified of this day?  He looked up at their faces uneasily, not recognizing either.  That wasn’t unusual, there were hundreds of council members; Not to mention some of them were older than his twelfth regeneration parents and only on their first.  They looked back him appraisingly with cold, calculating eyes.  He shifted nervously under their gaze when they abruptly turned and walked away with a simple command for him, “Follow.”  They didn’t look back when he stumbled or pause to wait as he struggled to keep up with their brisk pace.  They walked for ages before he started to see a brightness in the dark night.  As they grew closer, the light grew brighter.  A plaque bearing the seal of Rassilon lay in the ground, in front of a circular ring, between the two torches that illuminated an opening in the time vortex.  The Untempered Schism.  He gulped, glancing up into the council members’ faces.  Seeing no change in their expression, he steeled his nerves.  All the stories of people going mad and running away rushed through his head before he thought of his parents and how they smiled as he was being taken away.  They believed in him, his parents had made it through this, as had his grandparents.  He wouldn’t run, he wouldn’t break, he would be inspired and the universe would look up to him.  He looked into the schism.  

He saw all of space and time.  Everything that was, everything that will be and everything that could be.  He saw greatness, happiness, and peace, and he saw despair, hostility, and war.  He saw all of it.  Everything the universe was and is.

 

He ran.  And he didn’t stop running.  


End file.
